Tuesday, February 27, 2018

You Can't Rely On The Government To Protect You. Act Accordingly

First it was revealed that the FBI had received a tip about the Parkland shooter a few months ago, yet the agency did nothing.

Then we find out that the local sheriff's office received over 20 calls about the shooter, including an explicit warning that he "planned to shoot up a school," yet it did nothing.

Finally, yesterday — just a day after the Broward County Sheriff went on CNN and condemned the NRA — we were told that a police officer was on the scene during the shooting, but he waited outside while children were murdered. He never entered the building. Unarmed kids and teachers were heroically rushing toward danger, shielding each other from bullets, while a man with a badge and a gun huddled outside in fear. It's unconscionable. I have no idea if criminal charges can be filed against the officer for his dereliction of duty, but I hope they can and will be.

The whole thing bears a striking resemblance to the Las Vegas shooting — based on what little we even know about it. In that case, just as in Florida, police were on the scene immediately but failed to engage the shooter. They waited until an hour after the shooting had already stopped, and 59 people including the shooter lay dead, before they entered his hotel room. And the FBI put a similar level of incompetence on display, allowing a key witness in the case to leave the country only days after the attack.